Paths to Progress Experiments: Introducing the 10 Artists – Winners of 2nd Phase of Hungry EcoCities’ 2nd Open Call
Food practices across Europe are at a crossroads. As the continent faces the escalating effects of climate change and the demands of urbanization, the sustainability of our food systems has become a pressing issue. The conventional methods of food production, distribution, and consumption are no longer viable for the long term. To ensure a healthy future for both our planet and future generations, it is essential to shift towards practices that prioritize sustainability, equity, and innovation. The urgency for change is clear: we must evolve our food systems to be more resilient, environmentally friendly, and accessible to all.
Hungry EcoCities is rooted in bringing together multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate while harnessing the power of creativity and artificial intelligence to contribute to real-world challenges by SMEs in the European food chain. By reimagining how we produce and consume food, the teams in Hungry EcoCities seeks to build a sustainable system that benefits not just the present, but also the generations to come.
The second Open Call selected 10 industrial end-users/SMEs from the agri-food sector and 10 artists, who will now work together on AI-enabled use scenario prototypes and awareness-raising artworks that will contribute towards a more transparent, inclusive, and sustainable food chain.
In this article:
The Selection Process
The selection process for the 2nd Hungry EcoCities Open Call, particularly the 2nd Phase Call for Artists, involved a structured and multi-step approach to ensure fairness and quality selection. All submitted proposals underwent an eligibility check and scope screening, ensuring alignment with program objectives. Part of the selection process was conducted on the HEClab platform, which initially facilitated matchmaking between in-scope artists and SMEs. This digital environment enabled artists and end-users to discover potential collaborations based on their complementary skills, interests, and visions. The artists added their prototype cards to the overview and upon matching and selection, the SMEs started the conversion with two pre-selected artists.
The final beneficiaries were selected from 48 applications submitted by participants from 15 countries. During the pre-selection phase, artists received mini-grants to prepare detailed proposals and adjust their prototype development tailored to the specific challenges presented by the SMEs. This preparatory period allowed teams to become acquainted, deeply understand the needs of their partner SMEs, understand the Hungry EcoCities work methods and visions and explore testing possibilities with guidance from mentors. The approach resulted in remarkably high-quality presentations for the Jury Day.
The jury was particularly impressed by the artists’ visionary approaches and conceptual foundations, their level of commitment and prototype development, their diverse experiment proposals and reflections on the potential benefit of AI applications to the food system, and their ambitions to create meaningful projects contributing to a better food system. These qualities made the selection process challenging yet inspiring.
This step-by-step process ensured that the selected artists were not only eligible and aligned with the program’s objectives but also demonstrated the highest potential for successful collaboration with the SMEs and impactful outcomes.
The selection of artists for Hungry EcoCities´ Paths to Progress Experiments marks a significant milestone in bridging art-driven innovation with sustainable food systems. We are now ready to invite 10 artists to collaborate with our already selected 10 End-User SMEs, addressing specific local challenges through challenge-driven experiments conducted at local test sites. Additionally, mission-driven experiments, developed in partnership with our Hungry EcoCities collaborators, will contribute to understanding and supporting the vision for a fairer, sustainable and affordable agri-food system. While we deeply appreciate the contributions and dedication of all candidates, competition rules allowed only one project to be selected for each SME challenge. We are proud to present these 10 high-quality collaborations that will shape the future of our food systems.
The Winning Artists
Who are the artists? Meet them all and see how the SMEs sees them:
Tomato Brain
SME + ARTIST
Axia Seeds (NL) Vegetable seeds
+ Jo Kroese (NL)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
A supply chain of agents: a collective brain to un-silo the data in a supply chain of tomatoes.
“Jo’s experience as an artist was a great fit to our project proposal. It is great to see artists working in the tech and data space, as it is quite a fast-evolving field where creativity and experimentation are essential for progress”
William van der Riet
Axia vegetable seeds
(Be)etogether
SME + ARTIST
Beesage (NL) Data-driven Beekeeping
+ Maria Castellanos & Alberto Valverde (ES)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
WEBHIVE – Wonderful Evolution of Beekeeping through Hyperlocal Insights and Versatile Equipment.
“Maria and Alberto combine a bold artistic outlook with impressive technical capability. Their passion for environmental issues related to food security and ecosystem harmony matches our vision of deepening humanity’s understanding of insect pollinators to drive actionable, sustainable solutions.”
Ru Wikmann
CEO BeeSage
Traceartability and AI
SME + ARTIST
Capanna Prosciutti (IT) Traditional Parma ham producer
+ Alexandru Damian (RO)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
TraceARTability: reimagining quality ham’s role in our food system.
“We look forward to collaborate with Alexander Damian. His modern artistic approach embraces photography, enthusiasm for food, AI and digital technologies., an interesting way to demonstrate how art and new IT tools and merging tradition and innovation can be integrated.”
Capanna Prosciutti team
Soil.Society
SME + ARTIST
Instagreen (ES) Urban farming
+ Nicolas Rotta (ES)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
HEC-HAC: Healthy Agriculture Climate.
“Nicolas Rotta has an inspiring passion for practical sustainable systems that leverage natural processes. He beautifully combines biomimicry and low tech approaches with high-tech design methods. Through the collaboration between Nicolas and InstaGreen we can creatively draw form very diverse fields of expertise ranging from biological, thermal and metabolic systems, to 3D modeling and printing, AI-driven design, cultivating and designing with mycelium. We look forward to working together and making the complexity of indoor climate control both simple and highly resource efficient.”
Anneke Stolk
Co-founder InstaGreen
Compostable altar: Offering to the Earth
SME + ARTIST
Le Terre di Zoè (IT) Organic Farm
+ Betiana Pavón (AR)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
Organic farming: growing regeneratively in a climate change resilient way.
“The selected artist was very passionate about innovations in the food system and had done some experiments on his own before the selection process to find out if he could make improvements to the food system.”
Gert-Jan van Staalduinen
Logiqs
Harvesting Community
SME + ARTIST
Logiqs (NL) Mobile growing systems
+ Georg Kettele (AU)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
Vertical farming: Accelerating access to honest food.
“The selected artist was very passionate about innovations in the food system and had done some experiments on his own before the selection process to find out if he could make improvements to the food system.”
Gert-Jan van Staalduinen
Logiqs
Quiet Storm: Music for Insects
SME + ARTIST
Protiberia (ES) Insect farming
+ Samuel Van Ransbeeck (BE)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
EcoInsect: Learning about the life of Tenebrio molitor.
“Nature listens in ways we are only beginning to understand. Let’s tune in to the future of sustainability.” Samuel Van Ransbeeck’s proposal integrates sonification and soundscape composition. His strong background on agriculture projects will support Protiberia’s challenge on improving the reproduction and mating process of Tenebrio molitor. This collaboration born thanks to Hungry Ecocities consists in making music for and from this sustainable healthy reared insect. This way, we will implement sound as a way to improve the yielding of the mealworm and connect people to insect rearing in a pleasant way.”
Victoria Giráldez Sánchez
R&D researcher PROTIBERIA
Phygital Seasoning
SME + ARTIST
Sensesbit (ES) Consumer analysis
+ Laila Snevele (NL)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
Altered Perceptions: pushing the limit of current sensory analysis.
“We are truly impressed by Laila’s unique perspective on sensory science and her ability to intertwine it with artistic expression. Her approach goes beyond conventional methods, exploring how art can shape and enhance sensory perception. This fusion of creativity and science brings a fresh and innovative dimension to our research, opening new possibilities for understanding human experience.”
Sensesbit team
Air & Sprouts: Growing the Invisible
SME + ARTIST
Sprout Dynamics (DK) Industrial sprouting
+ Haseeb Ahmed (BE)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
Urban sprouts: a fully automated human less container for sprouting in cities.
“Haseeb Ahmed brings a unique blend of expertise in physics, chemistry, and climate science, combined with a strong ability to translate complex concepts into engaging, tangible experiences. His multidisciplinary approach aligns with our vision of integrating science, technology, and art to optimize sustainable food production.”
Iryna Gavrylova
CEO of Sprout Dynamics
Straw Return
SME + ARTIST
Staramaky (GR) Biodegradable drinking straws
+ Isaac Montè (NL)
CHALLENGE ADDRESSED
Wheat Waste to Wealth: Reshaping Wheat Straw Manufacturing.
“Isaac Monté’s expertise in material transformation and sustainable design offers a practical approach to addressing staramaki’s challenge of repurposing wheat byproducts. His proposal on developing scalable applications aligns with our commitment to sustainability and circularity.
Through this collaboration, we will explore innovative material solutions that strengthen our processes, advance the efficiency of our manufacturing model and contribute to greater resilience in our operations.”
Eleni Karagianniidou
COO, staramaki SCE
NEXT STEPS
The ten collaborative art-driven experiments will officially begin their journey in March as part of the Hungry EcoCities support program. Each partnership between an SME and an artist will have kick-off meetings at SME, conduct first tests, and develop plans to guide their projects through various stages of development, testing, and validation.
These collaborations will focus on the creation of innovative prototypes that address real-world challenges in the food system. As outlined in their mentoring plans, the teams will work through key milestones, including collaborative sessions at SME sites, prototype development, and field testing in authentic operational environments.
Beyond their individual development work, the projects will actively seek opportunities to showcase their innovations at significant industry events such as GreenTech and the European Sensory Science Society conferences. These platforms will allow the teams to gather valuable feedback from industry stakeholders and refine their approaches.
All ten experiments contribute to the three visionary directions established by the Hungry EcoCities‘ studio hosts: Local Conditions (Studio Other Spaces), City+Farming Synergies (Carlo Ratti Associati), and Mega Scale (EatThis). The culmination of these efforts will be showcased at a prototype exhibition during Dutch Design Week 2025, where visitors can engage with these forward-thinking approaches to sustainable food systems.
Through this structured yet flexible approach, the Paths to Progress Experiments aims to transform innovative concepts into practical solutions that address pressing challenges across the European food chain, demonstrating how the synergy between art, science, and industry can drive meaningful change in our food systems.
Comments from the partners: about the whole process
The two-phase open call process for the Paths to Progress experiments has been both highly effective and challenging. Identifying 10 SMEs in the food chain, with challenges open to artistic and creative input, was no small task. These businesses, often rooted in traditional practices, showed remarkable openness in welcoming artists into their operational spaces. At the same time, engaging artists in an extended evaluation and mentoring process—from matching their expertise with studio mentorship to refining a targeted artistic vision for each challenge—seemed almost impossible at first. But thanks to the dedication of all involved—SMEs, project mentors, and artists—we succeeded in bringing together 10 out-of-the-box teams working on real food challenges. The collaboration between business and art is paving the way for positive, innovative changes in the food system. I’m both amazed and curious to see where we will be in eight months’ time, as the results may surprise us in ways we cannot yet imagine.
Anca Marin- Funding Box
What makes Hungry EcoCities unique is the deliberate integration of art-driven innovation methodologies into solving real-SME challenges. Throughout the evaluation process, we looked beyond technical feasibility to assess how artists could bring alternative perspectives that challenge conventional thinking in the agri-food sector. The quality of the proposals we received demonstrated that artists aren’t just creating aesthetic works – they’re developing functional prototypes that could reimagine food systems.
The ten selected collaborations represent diverse approaches – from biomimicry and sensory science to AI-enhanced tradition and community engagement – each addressing specific business needs while exploring broader systemic questions and a commitment to meaningful impact. The artists and SMEs have already demonstrated remarkable openness to cross-disciplinary dialogue during the matchmaking phase, which promises rich collaboration in the months ahead.
I’m particularly excited about how these projects will leverage digital technologies while maintaining deep connections to local contexts, potentially revealing unexpected insights through hands-on experimentation. Looking forward to constructive sessions and reflections on how we produce, distribute, and consume food.
Lija Groenewoud – van Vliet – In4Art
About Hungry EcoCities
Hungry EcoCities will host 19 S+T+ARTS residencies to work towards defining, designing, and developing AI-enabled responsible, art-driven solutions for the end-users in the agri-food industries.
The project aims to harness the power of creativity and AI to revolutionize the food industry and address the challenges of urbanization and climate change by teaming up studios, universities, technological research experts, growers, agricultural specialists, artists and creative thinkers to come up with new ideas for the future food system.
In the first Open Call for proposals (2023-2024), the project consortium has selected only artists to collaborate and participate in the “Humanizing Technology Experiments” linked to one of three directions for experimentation: Mega Scale, Local Conditions, or City+Farming Synergies. The aim was to delve into digital inquiries by combining technology and art to achieve agri-food (AI) usability outcomes. All outcomes can be found here.
The second Open Call (2024) focused on “Paths-to-progress Experiments”, where SMEs (results of the winners here) from the agri-food sector and artists will jointly work towards prototypes and awareness-raising artworks. The outcomes should make the food chain more transparent, inclusive and sustainable, build connections between different stakeholders in the food chain and promote more informed and sustainable consumption patterns.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.
